The unsheltered homeless population has increased steadily since 2015, while the sheltered population has decreased since 2014.

Advocates say the lack of affordable housing, particularly in metropolitan settings, is a leading factor in homelessness.

“There is a critical shortage of affordable rental housing in every jurisdiction across the country,” Barbara Poppe, the former executive director of the United States Interagency Council on Homelessness, told the Journal.

Nearly one quarter of the country’s entire homeless population lives in New York City or Los Angeles as both cities grapple with increasing rents prices. Average rent in Los Angeles has increased 35 percent since 2012 and 20 percent in New York, according to the Journal.